Downton Abbey is about to get some SERIOUS competition next year. I hope. YEAH! I’m helping my fellow bloggers spread the word.

A few decades back, there was a British writer named Winston Graham. He wrote a series of books about a character called Ross Poldark, a former British Army officer who fought in the Revolutionary War and returned to his home in Cornwall, England after the war. Rejected by his fiancee Elizabeth, he’s trying to come to terms with the aftereffects of war and create a normal life for himself.

They’ve made a couple of miniseries out of the book. I first learned about it from watching reruns of one series on German television (with Robin Ellis playing Ross Poldark), when I was an exchange student for a few weeks. It was on in English and at the time, I never caught the title of the series, so I left Germany wondering about it.

Later on, I discovered the series again through my British friend H. We were traveling around England and I found a book written by Robin Ellis about his experience working on the show. It made for entertaining reading since it’s fun to hear the behind-the-scenes stories of how Robin Ellis was cast for the part and what happened on the set.

That miniseries was VERY popular in the U.K. and now the BBC’s working on a 2015 remake which I hope will be just as good. Hey, they’ve got that gorgeous Cornwall scenery, excellent music and good-looking cast. Add those elements to a good storyline and a receptive market, and I’d say you’ve got the basics for something good!

Aidan Turner (of the TV series Being Human and the Hobbit movies) plays Ross Poldark in the 2015 version. He’s well cast — a versatile actor capable of playing various emotions, so his performance in this series should be a treat.

They’re still filming for now, so it’ll be a while yet before it airs on television. (If they don’t show it on PBS, BBC America or somewhere similar, I’m doing some serious pouting.) I’m looking forward to it — hand me that popcorn and let’s settle down!

12 responses to “Look out, Downton Abbey! Poldark is coming!”

Popcorn popping in anticipation!!! Fascinating period of history – story is bound to be addictive, too. (Am planning to locate author’s books – thanks for the heads-up)….they better broadcast it here – or on BBC America!

Now that you’ve brought it up it’s worth noting that there seems to have been a resurgence in good TV. Those of us a bit jaded by what the big networks are putting out now have decent choices available from smaller networks like Showtime, HBO, Turner and now Netflix. It’s a nice change.